5 indicted for ‘gang- related’ attack

Three persons were arrested Tuesday after an Anderson County grand jury returned indictments in what is being described by law enforcement officials as a gang-related attempted murder and conspiracy case.

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By Russel Langley/The Oak Ridger

Oakridger - Oak Ridge, TN

By Russel Langley/The Oak Ridger

Posted Jun. 13, 2014 at 5:27 PM

By Russel Langley/The Oak Ridger

Posted Jun. 13, 2014 at 5:27 PM

Three persons were arrested Tuesday after an Anderson County grand jury returned indictments in what is being described by law enforcement officials as a gang-related attempted murder and conspiracy case.

Leonard Lionel Kilgore, 36, of Knoxville, Jacob Eli Campbell, 33, and Michael James O’Conner, Jr, 32, both of Sevierville, were taken into custody Tuesday morning, according to an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department news release.

A fourth person, David Lee Dozard, II, 32, is currently in state prison on unrelated charges and a fifth, Crystal Lynnette McGuire, 37, is currently wanted in connection with the case.

Investigators obtained indictments from the grand jury on the five individuals after a lengthy investigation into the severe beating of a 31-year-old Briceville man, which resulted in serious injuries. The incident occurred on Dennis Lane in Claxton last December and was the result of “internal gang-related enforcement.” All five people charged in this case are members of the Aryan Nations gang, according to the release.

Kilgore, Campbell, and O'Conner were charged with attempted first degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, and criminal conspiracy and are being held on $100,000 bond each in the Anderson County jail. Dozard is in state prison, but faces the same charges, and McGuire is wanted for those same charges.

Anyone having information as to the whereabouts of Crystal Lynnette McGuire is asked to contact the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department at (865) 457-2414 or their local law enforcement agency. She has been entered into the FBI NCIC as a wanted person.

These arrests are the result of an investigation which has been ongoing for several months and was a cooperative effort between the Sheriff’s Department and the 7th Judicial District Crime Task Force, which includes officers from the Sheriff’s Department, and the Oak Ridge, Clinton, Lake City, and Oliver Springs police departments, as well as the District Attorney General’s Office, the release said. As a part of this investigation, search warrants were served in both Anderson and Knox counties.

The District Attorney General’s Office will be seeking enhanced penalties in this case as the offenders are members of a criminal gang, the release stated.

Arrests of these individuals occurred in Anderson, Knox, and Sevier counties and investigators were assisted by the Knox County and Sevier County sheriff’s departments.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a tolerance and legal action group, maintains a website that deals in hate groups and hate-related gangs. The site lists that the Aryan Nation is not as powerful as it once was, but that as the group splintered due to losses in financial resources and the death of its leader, the various factions began internal fights for control of the group. According the website, the group opposes all whom they deem a "threat to the white race."

Page 2 of 2 - While the SPLC site lists three hate groups with operations in an around Knoxville, the Aryan Nation is not on that list.

No further information is being released from the Anderson County Sheriff's Department at this time.